Pilgrims from Hawaii praise Mother Marianne at mass in Syracuse

When Barbara Koob came to Assumption Church on Nov. 19, 1862, to enter the Sisters of St. Francis, the action changed her life, the bishop of Honolulu said Saturday.

“When she made those vows, could she have known she was going to be a missionary in a place far away that few people had heard of?” Bishop Larry Silva said during a Mass at the Syracuse church now known as the Franciscan Church of the Assumption. “Did it enter her mind that she would be called to minister to a people that some people were so afraid of they shunned?”

Silva praised Mother Marianne’s example of obedience to God and charity for others during a lively service kicking off more than a week of events dedicated to the Oct. 21 canonization of Mother Marianne. He is leading a group of about 120 people from Hawaii who are beginning their pilgrimage to Rome, Italy, in Central New York, where Mother Marianne spent the early years of her religious life before accepting a request to go to Hawaii to minister to patients with leprosy.

Mother Marianne, a German immigrant who grew up in Utica, helped start St. Joseph's Hospital Health Center in Syracuse and St. Elizabeth Hospital in Utica. She served as a school administrator, hospital administrator and leader of the Franciscans before accepting a request from the Kingdom of Hawaii to minister in Hawaii. She served in Hawaii 35 years, including 30 years on the remote peninsula of Kalaupapa on the island of Molokai, before her death in 1918.

“The seeds of that dedication were planted here,” Silva said.

The Hawaiian visitors included Franciscan sisters, lay people who admire Mother Marianne and nine of the remaining Kalaupapa patients.

“I’ve got goosebumps being here,” said Meli Watanaki, 77, who has lived on Kalaupapa since 1960. “I can feel her here. I’m always thinking of her. We love her very much.”

During the Mass, a relic of Mother Marianne, a bone fragment encased in a special container, was given to Assumption. The patients also presented a plaque to the church to commemorate their visit. The plaque honors Mother Marianne's efforts and says the nine patients represent the 8,000 people Hawaii banished to Kalaupapa over about 100 years.

“Their plight shall not be forgotten and their strength and devotion will forever inspire us,” the plaque reads.

Today, the group will visit Utica, home to Mother Marianne’s childhood parish and home. The group will also visit St. Anthony’s Convent on Syracuse’s North Side, the reliquary that contains Mother Marianne’s remains and the Museum of Mother Marianne Cope.

Bishop Silva said everyone, regardless of creed or background, can learn from Mother Marianne’s example of treating other people with dignity and respect.